The World Health Organization lists schizophrenia as more disabling than blindness.
I have identified and harbored a personal interest in blind people. For example, I went to a small coed college for many years and got to know about seven blind students in my time there, and I knew seven different individuals. I got to know how each styled themselves visually and how they wore their faces, for example. Actually, recently as a schizophrenic without family near by who was advised not to live alone, a normie with a physical disability was a choice of roommate I considered. Clearly, I could be of help in some areas because my disability doesn’t prevent me from driving or heavy lifting, for example. I have considered looking for a blind person as a roommate.
When I was in college, the college occupied several blocks in the middle of town, and to go from one building to another often required crossing city streets at traffic lights. For a couple years there. I could barely do it safely because I was that ill from schizophrenia. More than once, this fellow Jim heard (my) footsteps approach, held out his hand for a handshake, a said, “My name is Jim, would you help me cross the street?”
A more honest answer would have been, “I can barely cross the street safely myself,” but I didn’t stop to explain. I walked him across. Of course, one time some rude driver screamed his horn at us, but never mind.
Incidentally, years later, I am now safe to cross a street; I’ve had that much recovery!
I’m interested in acting and actors. its a huge part of our culture, I believe. One thing that particularly interests me is when a great actor has a character who as part of his script does a little acting at which that character is supposed to be fairly good but not great. For example, I consider Johnny Depp a great actor. One time, unknown to the viewer, his character is pretending to be someone else, and as I watched the movie, not knowing the plot, I thought Johnny Deep is not acting as well as he usually does. Later, when I learned more of the plot, it was back to believing Johnny Depp had done an excellent job, as usual.
One other actor who I think of as great is Dustin Hoffman. He doesn’t strike me as talented singer or musician or as a handsome guy, but he does strike me as great at his craft. In Kramer versus Kramer, Dustin plays the part of a single Dad fighting for custody of their son from his screwed up ex wife. Dustin plays a real stand up Dad who is no way a womanizer. His character is a hard working, super responsible, great Dad. But I guess his character did get horny after a couple celibate years, and so one day he goes to take home one of the single gals in the office.
Dustin Hoffman’s character, who is not experienced in picking up the opposite sex, but who for this moment trying to act particularly attractive to the opposite sex, did something to his face I wish I could duplicate. He made himself super attractive, sexy, and fascinating in the flash of a five second face!
Coming back to the present, I was at the grocery store tonight. I saw a blind woman of about 45 years of age and her dog shopping. This is small community, and I judge her new to the community.
I ended up in the short item line where one must have 12 packages or less to get through, and there was that blind gal ahead of me. Never mind it looked like she had 18 packages, and I really don’t mind that, although I am able to speak up if some one has a full carriage. She was being helped by an employee of that supermarket whom I know well. I said, “Hello, Brian,” and received back a very friendly, “Hello, JayMan.” Brian has worked there for about 20 years and I have known him for about 30 years. Nearly everyone who would look at Brian would be impressed first that he is so strikingly handsome second he has such noticeable akathesia that he surely must be on heavy duty psychiatric medication.
And about the clerk behind the register, Either he was new ,or new to his station, or his machines were, as he claimed, not working properly, but we were in line a long time, and I got to chatting with the blind woman. She kept apologizing for holding up the line, and I kept replying back that I was relaxed and not in hurry. Besides, I saw the delay as the clerk’s fault! I could see that she was physically trying to feel where the counter began and she was about ten times reaching just less than half an inch away from where the counter was actually located and touching nothing but air. I chose not to assist her believing she did not want help. Eventually, I did say to her, “Your carriage has moved ahead and you’re free to proceed about five feet down the corridor.” She thanked me. I asked her if her dog was a he or a she, and she said, “He’s not really here; he’s working.” I replied I could see from his body language that he was not into socializing but that he was attentive to his job. Well, eventually, she turned to face me, and she, much like Dustin Hoffman, gave me a face that was worth a thousand words. She was not particularly attractive, and perhaps she had never seen a smile, but she certainly knew how to extend the social clue that she appreciated my interaction with her!
So here I am behind her inline, totally schizophrenic, and she gets to judge me by my voice and words I choose, and here she with is inline with a schizophrenic employee of the store walking her through the motions of shopping in a store with which she was unfamiliar, and I wonder how she perceived Brian and JayMan based on what we sad and how we said it rather than any visual cues.
I mean, the temptation came to tell her that I once had a service animal myself, but I had to give him up because the caring for and paying for the animal’s upkeep was just too great for me.
Jayster
